.svg)
The athletic apparel and sporting goods landscape has faced various headwinds throughout 2025 – from shifting consumer spending patterns to challenging macroeconomic conditions. Against this backdrop, an AI-powered analysis of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy Sports + Outdoors, and lululemon highlights where each brand may find momentum in 2026.
DICK’s Invests in Its Banners
DICK’s delivered a solid fiscal Q3, and the most recent year-over-year (YoY) foot traffic data indicates that stability carried into the following months. The company continues to work through the integration of Foot Locker – streamlining inventory and refining operations – while simultaneously expanding its House of Sport and Field House concepts. Investment in these experiential formats underscores a strategic commitment to immersive retail and broader merchandise diversification to drive long-term growth.
Academy Sports + Outdoors’ Omnichannel Gains
Academy Sports + Outdoors delivered positive top-line growth and profitability in fiscal Q3, despite a modest decline in comparable sales. And while management noted record Black Friday performance, cooling same-store traffic persisted from November 2025 through January 2026.
Yet focusing solely on offline traffic may overlook several of Academy’s omnichannel growth drivers. The brand emphasized the connection between digital customer acquisition and continued store expansion, since a growing store footprint expands BOPIS fulfillment capacity. In this context, softer visit trends may reflect channel mix shifts, positioning the company for long-term growth.
Global Performance Carries Lululemon
Lululemon’s fiscal Q3 results reflected a bifurcated performance, with U.S. revenue declining modestly while international growth surged. At the time, management emphasized product innovation and global expansion as strategic priorities in 2026, reinforcing the brand’s long-term growth roadmap; so while recent YoY foot traffic trends point to some domestic pressure, the strength of lululemon’s international markets serves as a stabilizing force that could reignite engagement stateside over time.
Athletic Retail at a Turning Point
Lululemon, Academy Sports + Outdoors, and DICK’s performance shows that strategy and execution across channels matters. DICK’s investment in specialized formats, Academy’s omnichannel push, and lululemon’s international expansion, each address distinct growth levers in a challenging discretionary environment.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
When grocery analysts think about low prices and private label, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl often come to mind. And while all three operate in the value-driven grocery space, they differ meaningfully in how they run their stores, position their brands, and engage consumers. An AI-based analysis of shopping behavior and audience characteristics for each chain reveals how distinct brand strategies are influencing visit patterns and could continue to shape performance heading into 2026.
Value Remains A Powerful Driver
One of the defining themes of the 2025 retail narrative was the consumer’s continued focus on value, and the grocery sector was no exception. Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl – all known for extensive private label assortments and competitive pricing – each experienced positive year-over-year visit growth in all four quarters of 2025. And with the exception of Lidl in Q3, they consistently outperformed the broader grocery category, underscoring the enduring pull of value in a cost-conscious environment.
While some of that growth can be attributed to Aldi, Lidl, and Trader Joe’s expanding store footprints, increases in average visits per location suggest that demand rose alongside store count. If value remains a primary motivator in 2026, these low-price grocers appear well positioned to continue capturing incremental foot traffic.
Different Store Experiences, Different Visit Behaviors
Despite shared characteristics – private label dominance and ongoing expansion – Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl take very different approaches to the in-store experience. An analysis of visit length highlights how each brand’s balance of convenience and assortment influences how shoppers interact with its stores.
The Grocery Baseline: Speed Driven by Pickup and Top-Up
Across the grocery category, 22.1% of visits in 2025 lasted under 10 minutes – a higher share than at Trader Joe’s, Aldi, or Lidl. This likely reflects the widespread availability of curbside pickup and quick in-and-out trips at traditional grocers, which isn't offered at Trader Joe’s and Lidl and is only available in a limited capacity at Aldi. 18.2% of the grocery category’s visits also lasted between 10 and 15 minutes, reflecting many just slightly longer top-up visits consistent with the high-density presence of traditional grocers in many markets.
Trader Joe’s: Efficient, Mission-Driven Trips
Trader Joe’s stands out for its concentration of mid-length visits. The chain posted the highest share of visits lasting 10 to 15 minutes and 15 to 30 minutes, suggesting a highly efficient shopping experience.
This pattern aligns with Trader Joe’s small-format stores and tightly curated assortment, where seasonal items and cult-favorite products anchor clear shopping missions. Shoppers appear to arrive with a plan and move quickly through the store – reinforcing Trader Joe’s strength as a fast, focused destination.
Aldi: Streamlined Value with Slightly Longer Browsing
Aldi sees a higher share of visits in the 15 to 30 minute and 30 to 45 minute ranges than the grocery category overall, edging out Lidl slightly in both buckets. This suggests that Aldi’s limited-SKU and small-format model simplifies navigation and decision-making. Meanwhile, no-frills merchandising – with products often displayed in cartons or on pallets – supports its value perception, so shoppers still spend meaningful time winding the aisles to save money.
Lidl: A One-Stop Discount Experience
Lidl shows the strongest skew toward longer visits, including the highest share of visits lasting over 45 minutes (11.7%), exceeding Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and the grocery category overall.
This reflects Lidl’s positioning somewhere between a traditional grocery store and a superstore. Its in-store bakery, broader meat and dairy selections, housewares, and wider assortment require more time to navigate, and its stores are typically larger than Aldi’s while remaining smaller than conventional grocers. Together, these factors encourage more comprehensive stock-up trips.
Lidl’s relatively smaller store footprint network may also play a role, pushing shoppers to consolidate trips rather than supplementing with quick, nearby visits – a behavior more common in the broader grocery category.
Small, efficient store formats are a shared advantage for Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl, but the data suggests that footprint alone doesn’t define the shopping experience. Rather, each chain’s strategic differences meaningfully shape how consumers move through their stores.
At the same time, there is strong evidence that pickup remains a powerful draw for grocery shoppers – more than one in five grocery visits last under 10 minutes. If Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl want to capture more of those short trips, expanding convenient pickup options could be an opportunity worth exploring.
Not All Value is Created Equal
Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Lidl may share a reputation for value, but they are not competing on the same terms. Each chain’s philosophy shapes how shoppers engage with its stores – Trader Joe’s through curated discovery, Aldi through uncompromising efficiency and low prices, and Lidl through a full grocery experience at a discount. As value remains a powerful driver of grocery traffic, continued success will depend on each brand doubling down on the elements of its model that set it apart and resonate most clearly with its core shopper.
Will 2026 be another stand-out year for these grocers? Visit Placer.ai/anchor to find out.
The home improvement space has faced sustained pressure from macroeconomic headwinds – including persistent inflation and a cooling housing market – prompting many consumers to delay major projects and defer big-ticket purchases. But is a category turnaround in the works? An AI-powered foot traffic analysis of the sector’s largest players – The Home Depot and Lowe’s – offers insight into whether momentum has shifted and a period of growth is on the horizon.
A Solid Foundation For 2026
Both The Home Depot and Lowe's reported sales growth alongside an uptick in big-ticket purchases in fiscal Q3 2025, indicating that consumers were investing in significant upgrades despite many bigger renovations remaining on the back-burner. And the latest foot traffic data suggests that this momentum likely carried forward into the subsequent months.
In November 2025, both chains saw visit and same-store visit growth of roughly 3% year-over-year (YoY) – a sign of meaningful Black Friday traffic and a healthy start to the holiday shopping season.
And while December 2025 saw modest visit gaps, these likely stemmed in part from tough YoY comparisons to December 2024’s storm-related demand.
Traffic to both chains rebounded in the new year, with preparations ahead of Storm Fern likely accounting for some of January 2026’s YoY visit gains.
Overall, the past several months of foot traffic data paint a picture of continued positive momentum for The Home Depot and Lowe’s through fiscal Q4.
The Next Level of Growth
Large-scale projects may not yet be at hoped-for levels, but the data suggests consumers are still investing in their homes. And with mortgage rates trending lower, housing activity showing early signs of a turnaround, and the potential for abundant home equity to fund renovations, the home improvement sector appears poised for continued growth.
Will the home improvement space build on its successes in 2026? Visit Placer.ai/anchor to find out.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Consumers continue to prioritize health and wellness, putting the fitness space in a strong position even as economic headwinds and value-seeking shape discretionary spending. With 2026 now underway – and the industry’s peak sign-up season in motion – we took a closer look at Planet Fitness, one of the category’s largest players, alongside broader fitness trends to put our finger on the pulse of fitness in 2026.
Planet Fitness Continues to Bulk Up
Through most of 2025, Planet Fitness – and the fitness category as a whole – maintained YoY monthly visit growth. February 2025 marked the lone dip in visits for both Planet Fitness and the broader category, likely driven by inclement weather that temporarily kept some consumers out of gyms.
And Planet Fitness’ growth outpaced the wider category nearly every month, with the chain's momentum likely reflecting continued expansion – part of its multi-year growth strategy. Planet Fitness’ average visits per location were also up YoY – aligned with overall category levels – suggesting new gyms are meeting incremental demand rather than redistributing existing traffic.
In January 2026, Planet Fitness continued to experience visit growth, perhaps as New Year’s resolution-driven sign-ups helped lift traffic. Combined with the chain’s ongoing unit expansion, this dynamic could support continued gains as the brand moves further into 2026.
Low-Priced Chains Flex Their Advantage
Planet Fitness’ recent gains may also reflect a broader shift within the fitness landscape toward low-priced membership models.
The chart below shows that since at least the start of 2024, visits to budget-friendly gym chains (monthly fees under $30) such as Planet Fitness have consistently outpaced those to mid-tier ($30-$60) and premium competitors ($60+).
But the divergence became more pronounced beginning in early 2025, when traffic growth of premium fitness chains fell off sharply while low-priced gyms continued to see visits accelerate. In a retail environment defined by heightened price sensitivity and value-seeking, lower-cost memberships appear to be resonating with consumers looking to manage discretionary spending while higher-cost concepts face mounting pressure.
Moreover, once a gym membership is paid for, price-conscious consumers could be leaning more heavily into fitness visits as a way to spend time outside the home without opening their wallets – especially as other “going out” activities have become more expensive.
Early 2026 Check-In: Visitor Reps Point to Mixed Momentum
As the fitness industry moves through the early months of 2026, one of the most telling indicators to watch is visitor frequency. During the peak sign-up season, this metric offers an early read on member engagement – and on whether new joiners are building habits that support longer-term retention.
In January 2026, visitor frequency to Planet Fitness held steady, even as several other analyzed gym chains saw slight declines. The dip elsewhere may be partly attributable to Storm Fern, which likely disrupted routines and temporarily curtailed gym visits across affected regions. Against that backdrop, Planet Fitness’ stable frequency stands out as a relative bright spot.
Still, with resolution-driven sign-ups typically extending through much of Q1, it may be too early to draw firm conclusions about full-year performance. As weather-related effects fade and new members settle into routines, frequency trends over the coming months should offer clearer insight into how the category – and Planet Fitness in particular – is positioned for the rest of 2026.
Another Year For Fitness
Planet Fitness’ ability to grow visits, sustain per-location demand, and hold visitor frequency steady early in 2026 suggests the brand is benefiting from both internal strategy and favorable category-level tailwinds. While it remains early in the year, the underlying trends indicate that low-cost fitness models, and Planet Fitness in particular, are well-positioned as consumers prioritize cost-effective ways to stay active.
Which gyms will grow in 2026? Visit Placer.ai/anchor to find out.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Super Bowl LX kicked off on Sunday, February 8th at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, but celebrations across the Bay Area – from fan festivals and concerts to immersive cultural activations – began well before game day.
An AI-powered analysis of two marquee Super Bowl week events – the Ferry Building Projection Show and Chris Stapleton’s concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – highlights the role pre-game attractions played in extending the championship into a multi-day driver of regional foot traffic.
Ferry Building Projection Show
Between February 5th and 7th – the three nights leading up to the Super Bowl – San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building became the canvas for a large-scale projection show celebrating 60 years of Super Bowl history. Comparing evening visits during the installation to the nightly average since January 1st, 2025 highlights the magnitude of the crowds drawn downtown for the spectacle.
The Ferry Building is no stranger to major surges in visitation tied to visual events. On July 4th, 2025, visits to the area were 217.5% above the daily average as fireworks lit up the Bay, while New Year’s Eve drove an even larger spike of 336.9%. Other recent activations – including a drone light show on October 8th and the multi-day “Let’s Glow SF” installation from December 5th to 14th – also generated noticeable visit increases.
But, the pre-Super Bowl Projection Show stood apart. Evening visits to the Ferry Building spiked by 141.6% on the first night of the installation and by 265.7% on the second. On the eve of the Super Bowl, February 7th, visits surged 479.1% above the nightly average, surpassing every other evening visit peak observed over the previous twelve months. This shows that the event was not only visually compelling, but also exceptionally effective at drawing crowds into the city core during Super Bowl week.
While the Ferry Building Projection Show was a major draw in its own right, many attendees treated it as just one stop on a broader evening itinerary.
Location intelligence shows that 18.2% of visitors to the projection show also made an evening visit to Moscone Center, home of the Super Bowl LX Experience between February 3rd and 7th. Other popular destinations included Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square, and the Fillmore Shopping District – all well-established tourist and retail corridors.
Regional indoor shopping centers also benefited from an influx of visitors. Serramonte Center and Stonestown Galleria ranked among the more common evening stops for projection show attendees, a pattern that could suggest travelers sought warm, indoor environments for dining and shopping after spending time along the waterfront.
Taken together, the data indicates that Super Bowl-themed activations drove visit spikes while generating spillover benefits for a diverse mix of retail, dining, and entertainment destinations across the Bay Area.
Chris Stapleton at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Among Super Bowl week’s most anticipated and in-demand ticketed events was Chris Stapleton’s concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on February 7th.
With limited ticket availability and a premium price-tag, the concert drew a notably affluent audience. On the day of the show, households classified as “Ultra Wealthy Families” accounted for 45.5% of the venue’s captured market, compared to 23.5% across the prior twelve months. Similarly, households earning more than $175K represented 46.5% of the venue’s captured market on concert day, well above the 34.9% average observed over the previous year. These shifts demonstrate the robust demand for exclusive Super Bowl week experiences among higher-income music fans.
But affluence alone only tells part of the story. Using location intelligence to examine visitor journeys offers clearer insight into the concert’s audience – whether it skewed local or was bolstered by visiting Super Bowl guests.
Trade area analysis reveals that 36.6% of visitors to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on the day of the show traveled between 10 and 30 miles – a higher share than usual for the venue, indicating stronger representation from the extended Bay Area.
At the same time, the event also drew a meaningful influx of long-distance travelers. Visitors coming from more than 250 miles away accounted for 12.9% of concertgoers on February 7th, up from 8.0% over the previous twelve months. This increase suggests that many Super Bowl tourists incorporated the high-profile live show into their itineraries, reinforcing the role of major concerts as drivers of valuable traffic during destination sporting events.
Leveraging Headline Events for Broader Urban Impact
For civic leaders, major activations like these highlight how strategic programming can amplify the regional impact of tentpole sporting events – generating surges in visitation and meaningful spillover to retail corridors, entertainment districts, and shopping centers.
For more data-driven civic insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
The fast casual space has become an increasingly competitive battleground for share-of-stomach as price-sensitive consumers trade down to lower-cost food channels. Against this backdrop, CAVA and sweetgreen offer a timely case study in resilience. Both brands continue to expand their footprints and diversify their audiences while leaning on loyalty programs and menu innovation to sustain growth during a volatile period for the dining sector. Using AI-powered location analytics, we uncover how macroeconomic pressures have shaped foot traffic trends to both chains and explore the strategies helping to keep them on a positive growth trajectory.
Expansion and Engagement Lift Visits
CAVA and sweetgreen continue to pursue aggressive expansion strategies, contributing to the overall visit growth of both brands. But while CAVA showed relative stability in both overall visits and same-store performance in H2 2025, sweetgreen experienced softer year-over-year (YoY) visit growth and moderate same-store visit declines in most months – raising the possibility of emerging “bowl fatigue.”
In Q4 2025, CAVA posted 16.6% YoY visit growth, with loyalty program enhancements and a holiday campaign likely helping to sustain visits.
Sweetgreen’s 4.4% visit growth in Q4 2025 was moderate by comparison, although December stood out for delivering positive YoY visits and same-store visits. This boost may have been driven by the value-focused $10 Harvest Bowl promotion alongside continued adoption of the brand’s refreshed loyalty program.
For both chains, revamped loyalty programs and continued expansion may set the stage for growth in the year ahead.
Younger Diners Show Signs of Returning as Audiences Broaden
Even as refreshed loyalty programs and expansion act as growth levers, both chains have recently called out a shared headwind – softer engagement among Gen Z and Millennial diners amid sustained financial pressure on younger consumers.
However, AI-powered captured market analysis combined with the Spatial.ai: PersonaLive dataset suggests early signs of renewed momentum. In Q4 2025, both chains saw an increased share of visitors from the “Young Urban Singles” segment – a cohort that skews heavily Gen Z and Millennial – compared to Q4 2024. And sweetgreen saw growth in its “Educated Urbanites” segment – another cohort that skews heavily Gen Z and Millennial, and which makes up a large share of the chain’s captured market. These shifts could indicate that both brands reclaimed some younger traffic toward the end of the year.
At the same time, both brands saw broader audience diversification within their captured markets. Sweetgreen increased its share of “Wealthy Suburban Families”, while CAVA saw gains among “Upper Suburban Diverse Families” and “Near-Urban Diverse Families”. This suggests that growth among older and more financially stable segments is likely helping to offset some of the pullback from younger diners.
And while some of CAVA and sweetgreen’s suburban and near-urban audience gains likely reflect both chains’ continued unit expansion beyond urban cores, the rise in young urban traffic indicates that strategic initiatives are resonating with traditional audiences. Menu innovation and tools that give diners greater control over nutritional inputs – particularly offerings aligned with protein-forward trends – may be helping to re-engage young urban diners.
Why Focused Strategy Matters More Than Ever in Fast Casual
As consumer budgets remain under pressure, CAVA and sweetgreen illustrate that sustaining momentum in today’s dining landscape requires a deliberate, multi-pronged strategy. Thoughtful real estate decisions can expand a brand’s consumer base while innovation and loyalty programs keep existing audiences engaged.
The broader industry takeaway is clear: brands that deepen relevance across multiple consumer segments may be best positioned to compete for share-of-stomach in the months ahead.
Which restaurant brands will succeed in 2026? Visit Placer.ai/anchor to find out.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
Digging Into Dining
The dining industry showcased its agility over the past couple of years as it rapidly adapted to shifts in consumer preference brought on by COVID and rising prices. And with a new year around the corner, the pace of change shows no signs of slowing down.
This white paper harnesses location analytics, including visitation patterns, demographic data, and psychographic insights, to explore the trends that will shape the dining space in 2024. Which dining segments are likely to pull ahead of the pack? How are chains responding to changes in visitor behavior? And where are brands driving dining foot traffic by taking advantage of a new advertising possibility? Read on to find out how dining leaders can tap into emerging trends to stay ahead of the competition in 2024.
Stepping Up To The Plate
Comparing quarterly visits in 2023 and 2022 highlights the impact of the ongoing economic headwinds on the dining industry. The year started off strong, with year-over-year (YoY) dining visits up overall in Q1 2023 – perhaps aided by the comparison to an Omicron-impacted muted Q1 2022. And while overall dining growth stalled in Q2 2023, several segments – including QSR, Fast Casual, and Coffee – continued posting YoY visit increases, likely bolstered by consumers trading down from pricier full-service concepts.
Foot traffic slowed significantly in Q3 2023 as inflation and tighter consumer budgets constrained discretionary spending. Overall dining visits fell 2.4% YoY, and full-service restaurants – with their relatively high price point compared to other dining segments – seemed to be particularly impacted by the wider economic outlook. But the data also revealed some bright spots: Fast Casual still succeeded in maintaining positive YoY visit numbers and Coffee saw its Q3 visit grow an impressive 5.4% YoY. As the return to office continues, a pre-work coffee run or lunchtime foray to a fast-casual chain may continue propelling the two segments forward.
Shifting Demographics and Shifting Dining Behavior
Restaurant visitation patterns have evolved over the past few years. Although an 8 PM seating was once the most coveted slot at fine-dining restaurants, recent visitation data suggests that sitting down to dinner earlier is rising in popularity.
But among the QSR segment, the opposite trend is emerging, with late-night visits rising. Analyzing hourly foot traffic to several major QSR chains reveals that the share of visits between 9 PM and 12 AM increased significantly between Q3 2019 and Q3 2023. Even Taco Bell – already known for its popularity among the late-night crowd – saw a substantial increase in late-night visits YoY – from 15.4% to 20.3%.
Younger Customers Staying Out Later
Who is driving the late night visit surge? One reason restaurants have been expanding their opening hours is to capture more Gen-Z diners, who tend to seek out nighttime dining options. But location intelligence reveals that younger millennials are also taking advantage of the later QSR closing times.
An analysis of the captured market for trade areas of top locations within one of Taco Bell’s major markets – the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan area – reveals a year-over-four-year (Yo4Y) increase in “Singles & Starters.” The “Singles & Starters” segment is defined by Experian: Mosaic as young singles and starter families living in cities who are typically between 25 and 30 years old. As consumers continue to prioritize experiential entertainment and going out with friends, late-night dining may continue to see increased interest from young city-dwellers.
Smoothies Drive Weekend Visits
Millennials and Gen-Z consumers aren’t only heading to their favorite fast food joint for a late-night bite – these audience segments are also helping drive visits on the weekends. Smoothie King is one chain feeling the benefits of young, health-conscious consumers.
The chain, which opened in New Orleans, LA, in 1973 as a health food store, has since grown to over 1,100 locations nationwide and is currently expanding, focusing on the Dallas-Fort Worth CBSA. The area’s Smoothie King venues have seen strong visitation patterns, particularly on the weekends – weekend visits were up 3.4% YoY in Q3 2023. The smoothie brand’s trade areas in the greater Dallas region is also seeing a YoY increase in weekend visits from “Young Professionals” – defined by the Spatial.ai PersonaLive dataset as “well-educated young professionals starting their careers in white-collar or technical jobs.”
Sports and Dining - Match Made in Heaven
While some dining chains are appealing to the late-night or weekend crowd, others are driving visits by appealing to sports lovers. How have recent rule changes around student athletes changed the restaurant game, and how can college football teams drive business in their hometowns?
Scoring Big: Leveraging Fan Insights to Fuel Successful Partnerships
College sports have long been a major moneymaker, with top-tier teams raking in billions of dollars annually. And as of 2021, college athletes can enjoy a piece of the significant fan following of college sports thanks to the change in the NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules, which now allows student athletes to sign endorsement deals.
Since then, multiple restaurants have jumped on the opportunity to partner with student athletes, some of whom have millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. Chains like Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Slim Chickens, and Hooters have all signed college athletes to various brand deals.
How can brands ensure they partner with athletes their customers will want to engage with? Analyzing a chain’s audience by looking at the interests of residents in a given chain’s trade area can reveal which type of athlete will be the most attractive to each brand’s customer base. For example, data from Spatial.ai: Followgraph provides insight into the social media activity of consumers in a given trade area and can highlight desirable partnerships.
Examining the trade areas of Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Slim Chickens, and Hooters, for instance, reveals that Sweetgreen’s visitors tended to have the largest share of Women’s Soccer followers. Conversely, Sweetgreen’s trade area had lower-than-average shares of College Football Fans or College Basketball Fans, while residents of the trade areas of the other three chains showed greater-than-average interest in these sports. Leveraging location intelligence can help companies choose brand deals that their customers resonate with and find the ideal athletes to represent the chain.
College Gameday - Wins for Dining
Finding the right college athlete partnership is one way for dining brands to appeal to college sports enthusiasts. But dining chains and venues located near major college stadiums also benefit from the popularity of their local team by enjoying a major game day visit boost.
One of the country’s most popular college football teams, the Ohio State Buckeyes, can draw millions of TV viewers, and its stadium has a capacity of 102,780 – one of the largest stadiums in the country. And while tailgating is a popular activity for Buckeyes fans, nearby restaurants are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the college football craze. Panera experienced a 235.3% increase on game days as compared to a typical day, Domino’s Pizza visits grew by 283.3%, and Tommy’s Pizza, a local pie shop, saw its visits jump by a whopping 600.9%.
Game Day Visitor Spikes
This influx in diners also causes a major shift in game day visitor demographics, as revealed by changes in visitors at dining venues located near stadiums of two of the nation’s best college football teams – the Ohio State Buckeyes and Ole Miss Rebels. Based on Spatial.ai: Personalive data for the captured market of these dining venues, game day visitors tended to come from “Ultra Wealthy Families” when compared to visitors during a typical non-game day in September or October.
The analysis indicates that popular sporting events create a unique opportunity for restaurants near college stadiums to attract high-income customers game day after game day, year after year.
Subwars: Room for Everyone
While some spend game day tailgating or visiting a college restaurant, others hold a viewing party – with a six-foot submarine. And the sub’s popularity extends beyond Superbowl Sundays. Sandwich chains including Jersey Mike’s, Firehouse Subs, Jimmy John’s, and Subway (recently purchased by the same company that owns Jimmy John’s) have seen sustained YoY increases in visits and visits per venue in the first three quarters of 2023.
Some of the growth to these chains may be related to their affordability, a draw at all times but especially during a period marked by consumer uncertainty and rising food costs. And subway leaders seem to be seizing the moment and striking while the iron is hot – Jersey Mike’s opened 350 stores in 2023 and still saw its YoY visits per venue grow by 6.6%. And Subway reported ten consecutive quarters of positive sales, a promising sign for its new owner.
Sandwich Chains Attract a Wide Consumer Base
The love for a healthy, affordable sandwich extends across all income levels, with all four chains seeing a range in their visitors' median household income (HHI). Out of the four chains analyzed, Jersey Mike’s – which has long prioritized a suburban, middle-income customer – had the highest trade area median household income of the four chains at $77.3K/year. Subway, known for its affordability, had the lowest, with $62.9K/year. The variance in median HHI combined with the strong foot traffic growth shows that when it comes to sandwiches, there’s something for everyone.
So What’s The Dining Space Cooking Up?
Persistent inflation and declining consumer sentiment may pose serious challenges for the dining space, but emerging trends are helping boost some restaurants. Customers seeking out a late-night bite drive visits to QSR chains, and health-conscious diners are boosting foot traffic to smoothie bars and sandwich shops. Meanwhile, sports sponsorships and game-day restaurant visits can provide a boost to dining businesses that take advantage of these opportunities.
